Treasurer Jim Chalmers has signalled Medicare rorting could form part of the government’s audit of wasteful spending amidst attempts to rein in budget costs as the peak doctor’s group said claims had been grossly inflated.
A joint investigation by this masthead and ABC’s 7.30 has uncovered instances of doctors billing for dead patients and radiologists over-servicing cancer patients, which highlight flaws in the Medicare system that makes it easy to rort.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has criticised reports of rorting of Medicare.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The estimated annual cost of Medicare’s waste and rorts of about $8 billion equates to roughly 30 per cent of its annual budget – and more than the annual cost of running the Air Force.
Chalmers said these were “very concerning reports, very troubling revelations” and the government would get to the bottom of the issue.
“If these numbers are true, it’s absolutely atrocious. Every dollar rorted – whether it’s Medicare or the NDIS [the National Disability Insurance Scheme] – is a dollar thieved from people who need and deserve good health care,” he said at a press conference in Canberra on Monday morning.
“My view is if you’re stealing from Medicare or the NDIS, you’re a grub.”
The Australian Medical Association said the vast majority of doctors do the right thing and the organisation has worked with the government to ensure Medicare requirements are clearer for doctors.
AMA president Professor Steve Robson said doctor would be sickened by the reports, labelling them “an undeserved attack on the whole profession”.
“The AMA works closely with the Department of Health on compliance and we have never seen any concerns or numbers that would support the figures reported today,” he said in a statement.
“We do not tolerate fraud and examples of fraud should be tackled and stamped out – but the figures reported today are grossly inflated.”
Chalmers said Health Minister Mark Butler would address the issue later on Monday, and NDIS Minister Bill Shorten was also separately looking at waste and rorts in the scheme.
When asked if the Medicare rorting would form part of the government’s audit, Chalmers said Butler would investigate the claims.
“It means that money that is not exactly thick on the ground in the budget is not going to people who need it. We don’t have money to waste on these programs, if it’s being rorted and thieved let’s get to the bottom of it [and] make sure we’ve got the best arrangements,” Chalmers said.
“We do need to do more work here to make sure that our defences against people who want to rort and thieve from government programs are cracked down on, and so we will do that work.”
Ahead of the government’s first budget next week, the government launched a “waste and rorts” audit to find savings within the budget. On Sunday Infrastructure Minister Catherine King pointed to regional grants programs which will be under the spotlight in that process.
“We don’t want to see a single dollar rorted or thieved from the system when it could go to helping people who are vulnerable,” he said.
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